All in White
by budgie-alison
Summary: The snow crunches under Shepard's boots as she picks her way along. Twenty dog tags. She's found nineteen.


The snow crunches under her boots as she picks her way along. It's been a while since she's been on a planet without her armour, or even a weapon. She should have worn it but the cold doesn't bother her so much, it's more the fact that the carcass of her former home is scattered about her. This is the place where she first met Chakwas, now strewn across the surface of the planet. Over there is where she met Joker.

She can't find everything. A lump rises to her throat. The SR-2 is more than wonderful; she loves her new ship, new but familiar. It holds her friends and her lover. It's her home. But the SR-1 was _hers_. She brought her team together on that ship. And then, because of her, some of her crew died.

No, not because of her. The Collectors did this.

If she hadn't been on board, though ... She cuts off the thought.

She hears Garrus say something into her ear piece but she turns the volume down. There is silence on this cold planet.

Twenty dog tags. She's found nineteen. It's been forty five minutes and the last one remains hidden somewhere in the snow. To go back without it would be turning her back on a friend. A dead friend, but this person's family needs the tags.

She wonders if the others will want to come down and see this graveyard. Maybe she's being selfish, coming out all alone, but the others will have time later. She needs this.

The wind picks up and she shivers, drawing her arms around her torso. She's getting too thin.

Garrus again mutters something into her ear piece; she can just make out the sound of his voice over the wind. Shepard has no idea what he says, but a few moments later, the shuttle lands to her left. It lands and Tali steps out, her shotgun in hand. Her purple suit shows up starkly against the snow behind her as the shuttle flies off.

'Are you alright, Shepard?' Tali asks as she approaches. The falling snow thins.

Shepard nods. 'Just trying to find the last set.' She shows Tali the sets of tags she's collected. 'It's here somewhere.'

'It's so strange seeing it again,' Tali says. The two of them begin to walk around in the snow. 'Even more strange than being in the new Normandy.'

Shepard swallows and says nothing.

Tali nudges her shoulder. 'Your cabin is bigger now, which is nice.' She reaches for Shepard's hand and she gives it to her.

Shepard can't help but smirk at that.

She's not sure how much more time passes, but they find the last set of dog tags. Rubbing the remnants of snow off of the metal, she finds a little rust.

'I guess we can go now,' Shepard says, taking a look around. The skeleton around her hurts. There's no way she could repair any of this but she wants to gather up all the pieces, fit them together like a jigsaw and go back. Maybe if she could fix the ship she wouldn't feel so broken. They died at the same time and now she is whole, but she's not sure if she feels it. There are cracks everywhere.

'We still have to place the monument,' Tali says. 'Do you know where you want to put it?'

The snow begins to fall again. 'I don't know. What'd going to happen to all this? Is it just going to sit here and rust until nothing's left?'

Her breath forms into fog between them.

'Shepard,' Tali says, and pulls her into a hug. She runs her fingers through Shepard's hair and mutters something that Shepard's translator can't understand.

Shepard can feel the curves of Tali's body against her own and something stirs that reminds her that yes, she is alive.

Tali catches sight of something over Shepard's shoulder and she laughs in a short burst. 'Look,' she says, pointing. 'You know that will remain.'

Shepard turns and sees what Tali is pointing at. Damn thing that she could never drive.

Smiling, she remembers the hours she would stubbornly force the Mako over the mountains. No matter how many times she swore at the beast, she did have a fondness for it.

'Remember how many times you swore at me for my driving?'

'Shepard, you were going to get us killed.' Tali shakes her head as she laughs.

'_Could_ we be killed in this? We fell off cliffs.'

'Lava.'

Shepard puts a hand on the side of the only vehicle she's ever enjoyed driving. Around her flesh the metal fogs up from the warmth of her skin. She pats the metal a couple of times and steps back.

They set up the monument in front of the Mako and it shines in the cold light of the planet's sun.

'Tali, This is perfect.'

She rests her head on Tali's shoulder and Tali places a hand in the small of Shepard's back. For a few minutes they don't move, until Shepard's feet begin to go numb from the snow.

'We're ready,' she says into the comm channel.

With one last look, they return to the SR-2.


End file.
